He referred the fines to SPER, taking Baumgart's total debt up to $31,000.

Baumgart said he would wait for his brother, who is serving prison time, to be released in "the next couple of months" in order to look after their ill mother before seeking to work off his debt behind bars.

"If you're going to cut it out you'll be in custody a while," Mr Tatnell said.

Baumgart said he was under the impression $100 of debt could be cleared by one day of jail time.

A spokeswoman for SPER yesterday said she could not confirm whether a person could nominate to do prison time in lieu of paying their fines.

She did, however, say each matter was assessed on a case-by-case basis.